A 31-year-old Tyler man who had been accused of sexually assaulting a girl younger than 16 was found not guilty by a St. Louis County jury on Dec. 2, the Duluth News Tribune reported this week.
Jurors deliberated about two hours before acquitting Taylor Herman Maranell of three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, the Tribune said. Maranell was represented by Duluth defense attorney Mikkel Long.
According to the criminal complaint, a St. Louis County man in 2007 reported to the Sheriff's Office that his daughter had been sexually assaulted several months earlier by Maranell, the Tribune said. The sheriff's deputy who took the report then retired and the girl's father didn't immediately respond when asked whether he wished to pursue criminal prosecution.
The investigation was reopened in 2009 and led to the charges being filed last December.